


made your mark on me

by softgals



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Universe, F/F, Tattoos, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 16:50:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13462434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softgals/pseuds/softgals
Summary: In which Karolina and Nico get tattoos





	made your mark on me

**Author's Note:**

> written for @ginevraslovegood on tumblr for the request "nico x karolina and their first tattoos"

The room was lit with the kind of harsh florescent lights that seem to create more shadows than light, the kind that made Karolina recall the seedy dive bars and alleyways lit by only a single bulb that swung back and forth unsteadily in which she had spent a disproportionate amount over the past year. In the incandescent light, Nico’s face seemed to glow, and her hair appeared an inky blue instead of its classic raven black, so that Karolina was tempted to run her hands through it, just to see if her fingertips would come out stained. However, Karolina’s one free hand was already entangled in Nico’s, while her other arm rested on the flat tray attached to the hard leather chair she was anxiously sitting in.

“Are you sure about this?” Nico asked, looking up at Karolina from the chair she had pulled over. Her thumb absentmindedly rubbed circles in Karolina’s palm, a quietly intimate gesture that Karolina always found soothing.

Karolina nodded, her ponytail bobbing up and down as she did. “I already left my church, ran away, fought my mom, became a fugitive, and started dating a pagan who wears black lipstick all the time. I might as well take the final step in my teenage rebellion, right?” Her tone was teasing, but she really was sure. She wanted- needed- something permanent to mark her rebellion, something to mark her as the New Karolina, not the obedient, ever-smiling church girl, but the freak of nature who couldn’t be stopped, who fought for what was right and loved who she wanted. Maybe it was stupid, but that way, whatever happened, she wouldn’t go back to being that same naïve, scared girl.

“I think we’ve already checked all the boxes in teenage rebellion.” Nico said dryly, and Karolina cracked a smile at that. For all her dreary exterior, Nico always seemed to have a way of making Karolina’s heart flutter with happiness.

“I guess we have.” Karolina agreed. They had certainly checked more than most, and it turned out teenage rebellion wasn’t quite like in the movies. There was a lot more running from the law and sleeping in the dirt than she had been led to expect (or maybe that was only when your parents were basically super villains).

“At least one good thing came out of it.” Nico said, squeezing Karolina’s hand as she did, and that made Karolina smile even wider. Nico was right, after all. Maybe their lives were basically a giant shithole, but without it all, they might have never found each other.

Before their conversation could continue, the tattoo artist, a burly man who pretty much looked like the first the first image that would come up if you googled “tattoo artist”, returned, apparently having retrieved whatever tools he needed (Karolina knew exactly nothing about tattoos, which maybe meant she shouldn’t be getting one, but, hey, she had made plenty of extensively well thought-out decisions before, and look where they had gotten her).

“Do you have a picture?” He asked, his voice surprisingly high pitched for his body.

Karolina nodded, and pulled the crumbled scrap of paper she had been saving out of her jeans pocket (actually, it was just half a napkin from the Burger King in the next town over), and handed it to the man. Gert had done the script for her, as it surprisingly turned out that she had the best handwriting out of all of them. “Is that okay?” She asked, as the man studied the paper. She was sure he didn’t usually work of napkins.

“Just peachy,” He said, sounding not at all sarcastic. Karolina was starting to like him. “Do you want to do yours at the same time?” He asked, nodding at Nico, “We have another artist in back.”

Nico looked to Karolina, the silent question of ‘do you want me to stay with you?’ in her soft eyes (it was funny how the more time you spent with someone, the less you needed words). 

“Go ahead.” Karolina said. She felt embarrassingly like a little kid about the get a shot. She had withstood her evil super alien father magically blasting her half to death, she was pretty sure she could handle this without Nico holding her hand (as much as she enjoyed feeling Nico’s hand in hers- it always felt like home). Nico raised her eyebrows, and extra ‘are you sure?’, and Karolina nodded at her.

“Sure.” Nico told the man with a shrug, and he led her over to a chair across the room, before returning to Karolina.

“This your first tattoo?” The man asked Karolina, while beginning to sterilize her wrist.

“That obvious?” Karolina replied. She had gotten a little rougher around the edges since being on the run: her ponytail was tangled and matted, her clothes looked far from new, she was smudged with dirt and bruises, and she certainly didn’t smell like roses, but apparently she still had that shiny church girl image. 

The man shrugged. “I can almost always spot a first-timer. You all have a certain smell or something.” He laughed lightly, and Karolina felt more at ease. “You ready?” He asked, “I promise it doesn’t hurt that much.”

Karolina nodded. “I’m going to look away though, no offense.”

“None taken.” He said, with another short laugh.

Karolina turned her focus towards Nico, who was lounging in her chair with the casual confidence that she always had. That was one of the reasons Karolina had fallen in love with Nico. Karolina had spent so long stuck in one box, unaware of who she even was, but Nico had never been afraid to be herself. After everything that had happened to her, so was so damn strong.

Karolina heard a buzzing noise first, and then the tingling started on her arm. The tattoo artist was right, it didn’t hurt that much. It was uncomfortable, sure, but Karolina was pretty damn tough. She could certainly grit her teeth and bear it.

The man hummed as he worked, but Karolina kept her focus on Nico, both because it was a nice distraction, and because she could watch Nico all day long.

Nico chatted briefly with another man, and then slipped one arm out of her shirt, exposing part of her back. After that she had to turn around, so that her back was facing Karolina.

Karolina didn’t really mind. She loved every part of Nico, and was happy watching just a sliver of skin on her back. She watched the tattoo artist begin to make careful markings on Nico’s smooth skin, and watched the way Nico’s body tensed and untested, the way her shoulders moved slightly with every breath. Everything about Nico fascinated her, and Karolina barely noticed what was going on with her own arm.

Karolina’s tattoo was finished first, and so she made her way over to Nico, circling around the back of Nico’s chair so that she could see Nico’s face again.

“Hi.” Karolina said softly.

“Are you going to show me?” Nico asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Karolina held up her wrist, which was currently covered with a bandaged. “Later, I guess.” Karolina said.

“I look forward to it.” Nico replied. “What would our parents think of us?”

“I don’t know.” Karolina responded, the same teasing tone in her voice. “We have to join a gang now, right?”

“I guess so.” Nico said. “We’re true delinquents now.” They usually avoided talking about their parents as much as possible, and it felt weirdly good to mention them so casually, so jokingly, as if they were average kids who were really worried about their parents killing them for getting tattoos. It was one of those rare moments of normalcy that both of them craved, and so often found in each other.

“All done,” The tattoo artist announced, and a couple of minutes later they were all paid up and back on the street, just a couple of tatted-up juvenile delinquents in love. 

 

Karolina wasn’t sure what she stared at more during the rest of the day, the bandage on her own wrist or the one on Nico’s shoulder.

She had plenty of time to stare at both, because the two of them ended up alone at that clearing where the whole group was currently camping out at the moment. Gert and Chase had been out investigating a lead on their parents all day, and as soon as Nico and Karolina returned to watch over the site, Molly and Alex headed out to try and scrounge up some food.

They were sitting on an old log that was rotting near the edge of clearing, Nico’s head resting easily in the crook of Karolina’s neck, the air filled with the crackling of leaves under paws, when Nico ran a finger gently over Karolina’s bandage and said “I think we’re good now.”

“Help me take it off?” Karolina asked. She didn’t need to ask twice. Nico’s fingers pried at the tape gently, careful not to hurt Karolina as she pulled the bandage off with the patience of a surgeon.

A few seconds later, she set the bandage aside, and they both stared down at the small letters now swirling across Karolina’s wrist, “Destiny” spelled out in tight black script. It looked just like Karolina had imagined.

Nico’s face was unreadable, and Karolina was worried she thought it was dumb. “Destiny.” Nico read, her voice quieter than usual.

Karolina nodded, and bit her lip. “For the first person we couldn’t save,” Karolina said, staring down at the letters, “Our parents chose her because she wouldn’t be missed, so I figured it was up to us to remember her.” She looked up at Nico, who was still unreadable. “What do you think?”

Nico ran a gentle finger over the letters, as a small smile spread across her face. “It’s perfect.” She said, and Karolina felt warmth wash over her at the approval.

“Your turn.” Karolina said, and Nico turned around obediently, slipping her shirt off her shoulder.

Karolina tried to match Nico’s gentleness as she pulled off the bandage, taking it slow and steady. The bandage revealed a dainty black bird perched on top of Nico’s shoulder blade.

“Pretty.” Karolina commented. “Do you want me to see if we have a mirror laying around?”

Nico shook her head, and when Karolina met Nico’s eyes again, she noticed there were tears pooling in the corner of them.

Karolina instantly reached to take both of Nico’s hands in hers, giving them a squeeze. Nico so rarely was vulnerable, and Karolina instantly wanted to hold her, shelter her from whatever was wrong. “Nico?” Karolina asked carefully. She didn’t want to push.

Nico spoke up without anymore prompting, her voice raw but steady. “When my mom’s friends lost someone, she would always give them something with a cardinal, because apparently a cardinal is someone watching over you.” The few tears in her eyes rolled slowly down her cheeks, but new ones weren’t forming, “I don’t think she said that anymore, after Amy, but I figured-“ Nico trailed off, not needing to finish.

Karolina wrapped her in a hug, and then planted a light kiss on the tattoo. “It’s beautiful.” She said, and the smile returned to Nico’s face.

“Enough of that, though,” Nico said, forcing the hurt out of her tone, and redirecting the conversation with a practiced efficiency, “I have another question.”

“Oh yeah?” Karolina raised an eyebrow.  
“Do you think yours still shows up when-“ Instead of finishing her sentence, Nico toyed with Karolina’s church bracelet with one hand, gazing up at Karolina.

“Only one way to find out, right?” Karolina said, eyes sparkling. If Alex were there, he would say that lighting up was irresponsible, and could draw attention to them, and they needed to be extra careful, and so on. And usually Karolina would agree, but Alex wasn’t there currently, and it was only for a few seconds. Plus, they were in the middle of the woods. Unless any hippies were on a very off-trail hike, they would be fine.

With Karolina’s approval, Nico slipped the bracelet off.

The glow started slowly, a faint tingling under her skin, and then Karolina was lit up, a dazzling swirl of color and light. Nico had the same awed look on her face as when she first saw Karolina’s glow. She always told Karolina it never got old.

Karolina examined her own wrist, and then held it out for Nico to see. The tattoo was still visible among all the lights, the letters glowing a faint pink that just stood out from the skin around it.

“Whoa.” Nico said slowly, taking Karolina’s hand in her own and running her fingers over the letters again. After a moment she dropped Karolina’s hand, and then stood up on her tiptoes to softly kiss Karolina.

Karolina leaned down to meet Nico’s lips. She swore she glowed even brighter when Nico kissed her, her whole body buzzing. If they kissed for long enough, Karolina could’ve lit up the whole galaxy.

Nico slipped Karolina’s bracelet back on her wrist without breaking the kiss, whispering, “got to be careful” into Karolina’s lips.

She was right of course, but, in that moment, Karolina didn’t think she would’ve minded being arrested. She was ready to face anything with Nico. After all, they were now tattoo certified badasses. Whatever came for them, they could take it. Together.

**Author's Note:**

> prompt me @maliasass on tumblr


End file.
